


Falling Deeper in Love With You

by SakuraBlossomStorm



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9847979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBlossomStorm/pseuds/SakuraBlossomStorm
Summary: Ben's always been in love with Leslie Knope. So what better time to confess his love then at the last party before they graduate college. Based on the song 'How Would You Feel' by Ed Sheeran.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nutriyum_Addict](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutriyum_Addict/gifts).



> I really wanted to write something in hour of Nutriyum_Addict's birthday, but nothing came to me, then today when I was listening to 'How Would You Feel' by Ed Sheeran for the first time, this idea hit me like a tons of bricks! 
> 
> I also really wanted to write something because she's just such a lovely, positive, thoughtful person, and deserves a birthday present! (Even though this is probably garbage because I didn't have it beta-ed and wrote it after a glass of wine.) Her work inspires me so much and it makes me so happy to see if she's posted something new. Reading her wonderful stories for the first time was what gave me the drive to join this website and start writing again, so for that I am forever grateful that I got the chance to be a part of this great fandom.
> 
> I hope you like this, Nutriyum_Addict. And Happy Birthday!!

There was a fog that swirled around Ben’s mind. He probably could have blamed it on the alcohol, he was about six beers down and his limit was usually four before he started acting like an idiot. People spoke to him but words didn’t seem to go in, he just smiled and nodded at what he hoped was the right times to. 

Andy was screaming something about graduation, Tom had put on some obscure rapper on the sound system that Ben had never heard of before, and Chris was babbling in his ear about the benefits of gluten free beer.

But none of that mattered, it never would matter.

Because Leslie was standing not too far away from him, smiling and laughing with Ann. Giggling as she linked arms around her and hugged her as tightly as she could.

She had drunk a fair bit, Ben could tell, her eyes were glassed over slightly and she seemed to lean to the right slightly. And he could have said that the reason she kept looking over at him was because of the alcohol too.

But he knew that it wasn’t.

Ben blinked and cleared his throat. This wasn’t a usual drunken stupor. Sure he was drunk, but not so much on alcohol. He was drunk on Leslie Knope.

He was relieved when Donna came over to them, telling them that she was heading off for the night to pick up Joe from a separate party. She distracted Chris away from him, giving him the opportunity to slink off.

The walk over to where Leslie stood seemed to go on forever. With every step he seemed to go nowhere, but his eyes stayed locked on her, drinking her in.

“Ben!” Leslie squealed when she spotted Ben walking over.

“What’s up Knope?” Ben greeted, clinking his beer bottle against her cup of vodka and coke.

“We graduate soon! That’s so exciting. I can’t believe it” Leslie said, letting go of Ann’s hand and turning to Ben, giving him her full attention.

“I know. Neither can I.”

He watched Ann leave, but not before giving Leslie a what she thought was a sly wink. 

“It’s a great party,” Leslie said, smiling.

Ben scowled. It wasn’t so much a party as much as a gathering at Andy’s parents house. They had gone away for the weekend and he invited them all over. It had been a warm summer night so the party was moved outside.

“Sure” Ben mumbled, taking a sip of his beer.

Leslie eyes shifted slightly, and she scanned him all over, and then looked around.

“Cindy’s not here.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “No. And why should she?”

“You’re together aren’t you?” Leslie asked. “I saw you all over each other last week.”

There was something in her voice that Ben couldn’t quite pick out. It was laced with a slight bitterness, like she wanted him to know that she had seen him.

Sure, last week at the Snakehole Lounge he had been grinding on Cindy like a cat in heat, but it meant nothing. She was a fling, always would be. She liked Mark too much anyway to be interested in him.

But no more. No more flings, he was done with that. Because it was all about her.

He was so stupid to have just realised it, and he would never forgive himself for it. All those nights he wasted not waking up next to her, kissing her, cuddling her. He’d regret that every single day.

“She’s in to someone else” Ben said, looking down at his feet uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry” Leslie mumbled. She wasn’t sorry at all, Ben could tell.

“It’s fine. I’m over it” Ben said. “Graduation soon, new start and all that.”

He swallowed and looked back up, his eyes meeting Leslie’s ocean blue ones, and she looked away quickly.

“I’m so glad we got to know each other,” he said with a soft smile. He could see a warm blush spreading over her cheeks; it was noticeable, even in the dark.

“You hated me when we first met” Leslie reminded him.

“Only because you always used to cut in when I was trying to answer questions. If you’d just keep your mouth shut then maybe we would have been friends straight away” Ben joked.

“I refuse to keep my mouth shut if your points are stupid, Mr Wyatt” Leslie smirked, nudging him slightly; a touch that sent sparks bursting through Ben’s skin.

He grinned and their eyes locked again, this time Leslie didn’t look away, and he could see the blush forming again.

“Party on the roof!” Andy announced loudly, causing the pair to look up. “Come on, its super easy to get on!”

Andy hitched himself up the garbage cans in the corner, and pulled himself up onto the garage roof, he shouted for them to join them.

There were only eight of them left now, and soon they were helping one another climb up onto the roof to join Andy, who had made it off the garage side roof to the main one, sitting in the middle and grinning wildly to himself.

Ben pulled himself up with a grunt, and then turned around to help Leslie up. Her tiny hand slipped into his large one and he felt it again, more sparks, more electricity.

“This is too hard” Leslie moaned. “I’m weak…and drunk.”

“Come on, you can do it” Ben coaxed, and bent down, tucking his hands underneath her arms and pulling her up.

“You’ve got to do some of the work too,” Ben told her as she found her footing.

“I told you! I’m weak and drunk, I can’t” Leslie giggled, her mouth hovering inches from Ben’s. He could smell the sweetness of her perfume, and it made him want to lean in to see what she tasted like.

But no, not now, not in front of everyone. Instead, he took her head and lead her to the middle of the roof where everyone was getting comfortable.

Andy had managed to get his guitar up and was strumming it while April lounged on his lap, throwing insults at Ann whenever she could. Ann and Chris were making out in the corner and ignoring April. Tom was trying to make moves on Lucy by telling her that the stars didn’t compare to her beauty, she just rolled her eyes and shoved him gently, calling him a dork.

Leslie shivered and Ben immediately pulled off his tanned jacket, wrapping her up in it. Leslie mumbled thanks and let Ben tug her into his arms.

“I’ll keep you warm” Ben said, nuzzling into her neck, grinning to himself when he heard Leslie let out a soft moan and the cover it by coughing.

“Ben Wyatt is putting the moves on me,” she teased, and Ben chuckled.

“Maybe. Is it working?”

Leslie sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think this is a good idea, we’re drunk and stupid and…this is going to be the last night we see each other in a while.”

Ben lifted his head and turned Leslie in his arms so that she was looking at her again. “No, this isn’t going to be the end. You know that.”

Leslie’s eyes shifted to the ground. “You’ll go back to Minnesota, I’ll stay in Pawnee…it’s not ideal, Ben.”

Ben grunted. “I’m not going back to Minnesota. What’s there for me? Nothing. Family, sure, but I can go without seeing them every day. I’d rather see you.”

Leslie looked up at him, a questioning look on her face.

“When I first met you, you were a huge pain in the ass. Loud, bossy, everything that I just didn’t want to associate myself with. But I found myself drawn to you, like a moth to a flame. And I wanted to rise to the challenge, not to try and best you, but to be as smart and confident as you are. Needless to say I lost that challenge, many times. No one can ever beat you. You’re smart, and wonderful. You grew on me, Knope. And I’m so glad that you did. Because I got to know you, and become great friends with you…but…I don’t want this to end tonight. I don’t want to say to you that we’ll keep in touch and then go our separate ways. Tonight I’ve realised that I can’t not have you in my life” Ben said, pouring his entire heart out to her.

He was about to continue when Leslie pressed a finger to his lips, her eyes glassing over with tears. “I know, Ben. But can you just stop talking for a moment? I just want you to hold me. Can you do that?”

Ben nodded and let Leslie lay back on his chest, a hand stretched up to the stars and lazily connecting them together. 

He listened to Andy play some MouseRat song and laughed at jokes he heard Tom tell Lucy. Throughout all this, a hand was in Leslie’s hair, stroking her soft blonde locks; the other was entwined with her free hand.

The sun soon started to come up, and Leslie sat up right, tugging Ben with her so that they could watch it together. Andy had passed out not too long ago, stopping the acoustic music, and Ann and Chris were curled up together. Tom and Lucy had apparently snuck off the roof together.

Leslie gasped as the sun rose, tinting the sky with bright hues of orange and red. She kept talking about how beautiful it was, and all Ben could think was how she was prettier than the sun.

She was intense, bright, warm…just like the sun but ten times better.

His own little fireball. Or at least he hoped that she was his.

“I should go” Leslie mumbled, once she was satisfied with the rising sun. “It’s really late.”

“Don’t you mean really early?” Ben said smirking, and Leslie giggled.

He helped her off the roof again but kept her hand in his.

“I’ll drive you back” Ben said, leading her towards his car.

Leslie shook her head. “No, you’ve had what…six beers tonight? You’re not fit to drive.”

Ben sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Fine, well I’m not letting you walk back by yourself so when will I be ok to drive?”

Leslie fished out some sort of chart from her back pocket and scanned it. “According to this you should be good to go in an hours time.”

Of course, she had an alcohol chart with her, she thought of everything.

Smart, beautiful Leslie Knope.

“Can we at least wait in my car?” Ben asked. “It’s getting cold.”

Leslie tried to pull off his coat and Ben shook his hand at her. “I’ll be fine, you keep it.

He led her over to his parked Saturn and they both clambered inside. Ben turned on the heating to a low setting so he could warm up and Leslie hummed quietly to herself.

“Did you really mean all that?” She asked after a while.

“What?”

“Earlier, on the roof, that you can’t not have me in your life?” Leslie said, turning in the passenger seat.

Ben looked at her. “Of course I meant it, I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. I’m a man of my word.”

Leslie smiled at him. “I had hope that it wasn’t some sort of alcohol induced ramble.”

Their lips were close again, closer than before, and Ben ached to close the gap.

He didn’t get the chance to, because once again, Leslie had beaten him, and her lips got there first, pressing against his with a soft moan.

Ben felt vibrations through his body, pulsing in every tiny bit of flesh that it could find. Turns out that not even his wildest fantasies could imagine what Leslie would feel like against his lips, no dream or thought he ever had about her could compare to this.

He guided her over onto his lap, helping her climb over the cup holder and she straddled his lap, their lips not breaking contact once. Ben’s hands found her hair again, craving the softness of her sunny hair.

She pressed into him, her chest brushing against his, and Ben moaned at the feel of her breasts against him. She’d kill him, he’d die tonight, he was sure of it.

His hands trailed down from her hair along her sides, rubbing every bit of skin he could find, her back, her stomach, her thighs. He thanked god several times that she was wearing a dress and there was nothing blocking their skin from touching right now.

Leslie slowly pulled away, her skin flushed and lips pink and swollen. She glanced to the left, out of the window and sighed.

“We can’t do this,” she whispered. “It’s daylight. Someone will see.”

Ben was disappointed, but understood, he knew that there might be some early bird dog walker passing, and boning in the front seat of his car might not make for a pleasant view.

“I know” Ben said sadly.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to” Leslie quickly said, “because I do.”

“You do?”

Leslie nodded with a smile. “Of course I do. Just not here, maybe…maybe if we have a bed?”

“You can come back to mine” Ben said quickly. “It will just be us.”

Leslie glanced at her watch. “We can go in 37 minutes.”

Ben grinned. “37 minutes it is.”

She slid back down into the passenger seat, and reclined the seat, Ben joining her so that they were face to face and lying almost flat, getting some privacy.

He saw so much life in her eyes, so much passion and beauty, and he realised he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Years of being her friend, and holding her when she cried after a bad break up, laughing at her if she did something stupid and listening to her tell him off if he disagreed with her. It was all building to this moment, to this perfect moment.

“I love you” Ben said, it came out as in such a rush that he wasn’t sure that Leslie heard him.

But she did. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped a little.

“You…love me?”

Ben sat up a little, taking a hand in hers. “Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I never expressed myself back then but I did. I loved you then, and I love you now, so much, maybe even more so.”

He swallowed; a little embarrassed by all the confessing he had done tonight. “Please tell me you love me too…so I’m not on the wrong page.”

Leslie was unable to hide her smile. She sat up and leaned over, kissing Ben softly.

“You don’t have to ask me to say that. I would’ve said it back. I love you too, Benjamin” Leslie confessed, an adorable smile ghosting her lips.

Ben couldn’t contain the wide grin that spread across his face. “I’m so happy you said that” he whispered, his lips finding hers again.

This was going to be the longest 30 minutes of his life.


End file.
